Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-06-01
MIR. REAGAN,s DEFENSE.

Mr.. Reagan is very much mixed in
his defense of the interstate law. He is
unable to clear away the belief consumers
now entertain, and in which they are justi-
fed, that the operation of the law visits
upon them new tax. Mr. Reagan, for
instance, says: 1t would offend the COM
mon sense of mankind and be a criminal
disregard of the rights of the people for
Congress or the Commission to 50 manage
as to deprive the people of the cheaper
transportation afforded by the waterways.
This can only be done by allowing the
railroads to carry freights below the cost Of
transportation, and thereby causing unjust
exactions on way freights to make up the
loss of revenue by the roads, and to pay for
depriving the people of cheap water trans
portation."
How in the name of reason can Mr..
Reagan reconcile the quoted sentences?
In one he dwells upon the right of the
people to cheap water transportation. In
the next breath he speaks of railroads
being allowed to carry below the cost of
transportation, for which he says they will
"make up" by unjust exactions on way
freights. Now, if the roads carried through
freights below the cost of transportation
and way freights experienced no change
from the normal standard, it follows that
the consumer was benefited and no one
injured.
And this was the fact. Way freights
remained as they were, through freights
were, by reason of the enforcement of the
law, brought to the level of the way
freights, and the consumer was the sufferer.
But how can Mr.. Reagan show that COM
petition between rail and water carriers
deprives the people of cheap water trans
portation? That is so singularly an alb
surd proposition on his part that we ques-
ton the accuracy of the report of his de-
Tense. The Louisville Courier Journal SAYS
Manifestly the only way the people
can be deprived of the benefits of water
transportation is by railroads performing
the same or better service at lower rates.
K K
But Mr.. Reagan says the losses on COM
petisive freIghts are made good by exac-
tons on way traffic. This delusion only
fingers in the minds of men who will not
investigate the subject, or who are unable
to understand it when investigated Louis
vile has spent two million of dollars to get
Kentucky coal to the city in competition
with the Pittsburg article. In doing so
she has not caused unjust exactions' on To-
cal traffic; on the contrary, though local
rates from the mines are not as low as to
Louisville, they are lower than coal rates
were before Louisville built her coal
roads"
One of the profoundest reasons for i'm
proving public water ways is
that they may be able to
compete with railroads, and thus secure
to the producer and consumers the lowest
possible price for the haul from the place
of production to the market place. As
our Kentucky contemporary puts it:
Now steps in Mr.. Reagan; he declares
that the railroads carry freight at loss
that is, at rate lower than they can af-
ford, and he wants stop put to it; he
wants to protect the roads against their
own folly; he wants to benefit the people
by advancing rates"
The truth is, the Democratic Admins
tration, protesting to be free trade in faith
has forced upon the country an interstate
protection measure which Furnishes the
consumer for no misdeed whatever. The
consumer class knows when it is hurt: it
never fails to strike back, nor will it in
this case, let Mr.. Cleveland close up the
rivets in his armor